In which country did manga as we know it today originate?
Answer : Japan
The word manga is Japanese, and modern manga developed in Japan after World War II, largely thanks to Osamu Tezuka.
Questions and answers: Manga & anime
Revise Manga & anime: here is a selection of questions of every level, with the answer and an explanation. To test yourself without seeing the answers, play the quizzes.
Play the Manga & anime quizzesVery easy
What is the name of the main hero of Dragon Ball?
Answer : Son Goku
Son Goku is a Saiyan sent to Earth as a baby, where he is taken in by the old man Grandpa Gohan. His Saiyan birth name is Kakarot.
Which Japanese animation studio chose Totoro as its emblem?
Answer : Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli, founded in 1985, uses Totoro's silhouette as its logo. The character comes from the film My Neighbor Totoro, released in 1988.
In One Piece, what power does Luffy gain by eating a Devil Fruit?
Answer : His body becomes elastic
Luffy ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, which gives him a rubber body. Like every Devil Fruit user, he can no longer swim as a result.
In which direction is a traditional Japanese manga read?
Answer : From right to left
Japanese is traditionally written in columns, from top to bottom and right to left, so a manga opens at what would be the back of a Western book.
What is Naruto Uzumaki's great dream in the manga Naruto?
Answer : To become Hokage
The Hokage is the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, Konoha. Naruto wants the title so that everyone in the village will finally acknowledge him.
Which character is a blue robot cat from the future, sent to help a schoolboy?
Answer : Doraemon
Doraemon comes from the 22nd century and pulls gadgets out of his belly pocket to help young Nobita. He is also terrified of mice.
In which manga does a high school student find a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it?
Answer : Death Note
In Death Note, the notebook belongs to a god of death, a shinigami. The manga was serialized in Japan between 2003 and 2006.
Easy
What does the word otaku refer to?
Answer : A very passionate fan of manga or anime
In Japanese, otaku describes someone deeply absorbed in a hobby. Outside Japan, the word has mostly come to mean fans of manga and anime.
Which mangaka created Dragon Ball?
Answer : Akira Toriyama
Akira Toriyama also created Dr. Slump and designed the characters of the Dragon Quest video game series.
Which mangaka created One Piece?
Answer : Eiichiro Oda
Eiichiro Oda designed One Piece as a grand pirate adventure in search of the ultimate treasure left behind by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.
Which Hayao Miyazaki film, released in Japan in 2001, won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2003?
Answer : Spirited Away
Spirited Away also won the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival. It follows a young girl trapped in a world of spirits.
In Attack on Titan, what is the first name of the young hero who vows to wipe out the Titans?
Answer : Eren
Eren Yeager swears this after the wall around his hometown is breached and his mother is killed by a Titan.
Which creature is sealed inside Naruto Uzumaki?
Answer : The nine-tailed fox
Kurama, the nine-tailed fox, was sealed inside Naruto at birth by his father, the Fourth Hokage. It gives him an enormous reserve of chakra.
What does the word shonen mean in the manga world?
Answer : A manga aimed mainly at teenage boys
Shonen literally means young boy. Dragon Ball, Naruto and One Piece all belong to this category, which is defined by its target audience more than by theme.
Which director co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985?
Answer : Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki founded Ghibli with Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki. The name comes from an Italian word for a hot Saharan wind.
Medium
What is the original Japanese title of the manga Attack on Titan?
Answer : Shingeki no Kyojin
Shingeki no Kyojin roughly means the attack of the giants. The word kyojin means giant in Japanese, which the English title renders as Titan.
In Dragon Ball, what is the Saiyans' home planet called?
Answer : Planet Vegeta
Planet Vegeta was destroyed by Frieza, who feared the Saiyans. Only a handful of survivors, including Goku and Vegeta, escaped the massacre.
Which writer wrote Death Note, which was illustrated by Takeshi Obata?
Answer : Tsugumi Ohba
Tsugumi Ohba writes the stories and Takeshi Obata draws them. The duo also made Bakuman, a manga about two teenagers who dream of becoming mangaka.
What is the first ship of the Straw Hat Pirates, given to them by Kaya in One Piece?
Answer : The Going Merry
The Going Merry is a caravel given by Kaya, and the crew treats it as a full member of the team. It is later replaced by the Thousand Sunny.
Who created the series Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995?
Answer : Hideaki Anno
Hideaki Anno directed Evangelion at studio Gainax. The series, which began airing in 1995, deeply renewed the giant robot genre.
What is the name for manga aimed mainly at teenage girls?
Answer : Shojo
Shojo targets a young female audience and often focuses on feelings and relationships. Sailor Moon, serialized in the magazine Nakayoshi, is a famous example.
What does the acronym OVA stand for in Japanese animation?
Answer : Original Video Animation
An OVA is an episode or animated film sold directly on video, without first airing on television or in theaters. The format took off in the 1980s.
Which mangaka created Fullmetal Alchemist?
Answer : Hiromu Arakawa
Hiromu Arakawa serialized Fullmetal Alchemist in Monthly Shonen Gangan from 2001 to 2010. The manga runs for 27 volumes.
Hard
Which director made the animated films Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Paprika?
Answer : Satoshi Kon
Satoshi Kon is known for blending dream and reality in his films. He also directed the series Paranoia Agent and the film Tokyo Godfathers.
Which manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, adapted into an animated film in 1988, is set in Neo-Tokyo?
Answer : Akira
Akira is set in 2019 in Neo-Tokyo, rebuilt after a gigantic explosion. Otomo directed the 1988 film himself, and it did much to bring Japanese animation to audiences abroad.
Which magazine began serializing the manga One Piece in 1997?
Answer : Weekly Shonen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump, published by Shueisha, also hosted Dragon Ball and Naruto. The magazine is known for ranking its series according to reader votes.
Which mangaka created Monster, 20th Century Boys and Pluto?
Answer : Naoki Urasawa
Naoki Urasawa reimagined an Astro Boy storyline in Pluto, with the approval of Tezuka Productions. He is known for tightly plotted suspense thrillers.
Which manga by Takehiko Inoue follows the basketball team of Shohoku High School?
Answer : Slam Dunk
Slam Dunk follows Hanamichi Sakuragi, a troublemaker who takes up basketball because of a crush. The manga did much to boost the popularity of basketball in Japan.
What is the Japanese term for the bound volume that collects the chapters of a manga?
Answer : Tankobon
Chapters first appear in a prepublication magazine, then are collected in tankobon, the format sold in bookstores. A doujinshi, by contrast, is a self-published work by amateurs.
Which animation studio produced the series Cowboy Bebop in 1998?
Answer : Sunrise
Sunrise, also known for the Gundam franchise, produced Cowboy Bebop under director Shinichiro Watanabe. The series blends space western, jazz and film noir.
Which 1986 film is considered the first official feature of Studio Ghibli?
Answer : Castle in the Sky
Nausicaä (1984) predates the founding of the studio in 1985, so Ghibli's first official film is Castle in the Sky (Laputa), released in 1986.
Expert
In which year did Dragon Ball begin its serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump?
Answer : 1984
The first chapter appeared at the end of 1984, and the manga ended in 1995. The Dragon Ball anime did not begin until 1986.
Which manga by Osamu Tezuka, published in 1947, is often cited as the starting point of modern manga?
Answer : New Treasure Island
New Treasure Island (Shin Takarajima) was written with Shichima Sakai and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Its cinematic panel layouts influenced generations of future mangaka.
What is the original Japanese title of Astro Boy?
Answer : Tetsuwan Atom
Tetsuwan Atom translates as Iron Arm Atom, or Mighty Atom. The manga began in 1952, and the 1963 TV adaptation set the model for the weekly animated series.
Which classic Chinese novel inspired the early chapters of Dragon Ball?
Answer : Journey to the West
Akira Toriyama drew on this 16th-century novel, whose hero is the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. The name Son Goku is the Japanese reading of Sun Wukong.
Which mangaka created Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha and Maison Ikkoku?
Answer : Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi also created Urusei Yatsura, her first major series, launched in 1978, as well as Rin-ne.
Which Tokyo event, first held in 1975, brings together thousands of amateur doujinshi creators?
Answer : Comiket
Comic Market, or Comiket, takes place in Tokyo twice a year, in summer and winter. It is devoted mainly to doujinshi, self-published works by amateurs.
Under which pen name did Hiroshi Fujimoto publish Doraemon?
Answer : Fujiko F. Fujio
Hiroshi Fujimoto formed the duo Fujiko Fujio with Motoo Abiko before each took his own pen name in 1987. Abiko became Fujiko A. Fujio, creator of Ninja Hattori.
In Hunter x Hunter, what is the life energy that fighters learn to master called?
Answer : Nen
Nen is divided into several basic techniques, such as Ten, Zetsu, Ren and Hatsu. The manga is the work of Yoshihiro Togashi.
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